Hullo,
I've realised I tend to make the same blunders whenever I paint my figs, so maybe saying them out loud will make me remeber them the next time:
- smaller scales require brighter colours
- matt varnish makes the figures dull. Use brighter colours
- using a magnifier when painting makes the contrast in highlights and shdows appear greater than in real life. Use more contrast.
- paint for gaming distance, not for close up beauty shots
- if your 50 year old eyes can't see it 3 feet away, you don't have to paint it
- go for mass effect, indulge in generals and unique battlefield clutter, but keep in mind you have to paint 400 squaddies before you get to field your army.
I must have missed quite a few obvious ones...
Cheers,
Aksu
Encourage your S.O to go out for the day to visit friends . That way you can paint all day without interruption.
Quote from: Aksu on 06 March 2016, 03:15:15 PM
- if your 50 year old eyes can't see it 3 feet away, you don't have to paint it
My 66 year old eyes are a damn sight better than my 50 year old ones ever were (pun intended).
Laser correction made all the difference.
10mm figures bounce an awfully long way! Artillery wheels bounce even further!
Quote from: mad lemmey on 06 March 2016, 04:11:20 PM
10mm figures bounce an awfully long way! Artillery wheels bounce even further!
Artillery wheels with super glue on go even further and glue themselves to the link 😭
-If you drop 10mm figures they are a bu**er to find if you have a multi-coloured carpet.
-You need to use your 5'O' brush for most of the painting.
-Don't use a magnifier unless you eyesight is complete pants. If you use one to paint with you need one to see the detail with.
-In the great scheme of things, smaller scales are not really any less expensive unless you only play skirmish games. Once you start on a period the megalomaniac in you comes to the fore and is like a runaway train.
Which is your Tea./coffee mug and which is your rinsing water.
DON'T Lick the brush when using Magic wash.
>>If you drop 10mm figures they are a bu**er to find if you have a multi-coloured carpet.
They are difficult to find even if you have a wooden floot..
I finished a Prussian SYW Battalion yesterday and scooped them up to transfer them to the
dining table ready for basing. Unfortunately, one of the little blighters had obviously had
enough and took a dive. I heard him hit the wooden floor and skitter off to 'desination
unknown' (but it sounded a really long way away).
An initial search proved fruitless. This was followed by much swearing / shaking of head /
"there's only so many places it could get to" etc etc. A second search revealed the ittle
castaway under a cupboard, resting on a what seemed like half a cat, musket snapped.
Superglue to the rescue and he is now happily based (but very close to his boss who can
make sure there are no more little incidents).
The joys,
Phil
Quote from: mad lemmey on 06 March 2016, 04:11:20 PM
10mm figures bounce an awfully long way!
...and stick to the bottom of your shoes really well.
Also keep the four or five brushes you really like and use separate from the other three hundred ('cause you can never throw anything away)
;D
Soooo true
Quote from: d_Guy on 06 March 2016, 05:17:11 PM
...and stick to the bottom of your shoes really well.
Also keep the four or five brushes you really like and use separate from the other three hundred ('cause you can never throw anything away)
When it comes to brushes I am Centurion "Cedo alteram" Lucilius (http://iron-mitten.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/cedo-alteram.html). Other three hundred is a bit over the top but other thirty is about right and the result of a few months painting ... and I'm not painting that much these days :(
Not sure how I trash brushes quite so quickly.
Centurion Lucilius - ;D
Your right 300 is a bit much - it is 71+/- - can't get an accurate count because of all the needle files, dental probes, green-stuff sculpting tools, etc stuck in amongst them!
Completely agree with making the colours brighter to stand out more once on the gaming table. Also good basing and flags makes all the difference, especially when most of the game you only see the backs of your chaps.
painting in the eyes is just showing off!
I have done it though, on some Sci-Fi survivors :P
[they look rubbish, mind. so I didn't enter them into the comp. ;) ]
Quote from: Steve J on 06 March 2016, 07:00:22 PM
Completely agree with making the colours brighter to stand out more once on the gaming table. Also good basing and flags makes all the difference, especially when most of the game you only see the backs of your chaps.
Crikey, your chaps must be made of stern stuff. All too often I view mine head on as they make a dash for the rear.
Quote from: Zippee on 06 March 2016, 09:31:15 PM
Crikey, your chaps must be made of stern stuff. All too often I view mine head on as they make a dash for the rear.
We refer to that as the 'tactical withdrawal' ;D
Thanks for the fun read and the sensible advice.
Quote from: Just a few Orcs on 06 March 2016, 03:54:26 PM
Encourage your S.O to go out for the day to visit friends . That way you can paint all day without interruption.
No, get her/him to help.
Quote from: Subedai on 06 March 2016, 04:44:01 PM
-In the great scheme of things, smaller scales are not really any less expensive unless you only play skirmish games. Once you start on a period the megalomaniac in you comes to the fore and is like a runaway train.
Skirmish scale is not only cheaper, you don't have to paint as many figures...
...but you need a lot more terrain!
However, many bgits of terrain can be reused for various periods. Everything from Science Fiction, to Modern, to WWII, to Ancients, to dinosaurs use hills, trees & bushes...
Good advice and one bit I want to add.
Have a plan and stick to it rather than jumping around between projects.
You are a rare breed.
Quote from: DaveH on 01 May 2016, 10:02:59 AM
Have a plan and stick to it rather than jumping around between projects.
"Have a plan ... " Yes. Got that. Excel spreadsheet with timescales and costs and everything.
"... and stick to it ..." What, even when Pendraken release a new range?
"... rather than jumping around between projects."
Nope. You've lost me.
The butterfly has spoken.
Cheers - Phil ;)
I'm sure if I could go into a room where I'm free from new Pendraken goodies, catchy films, books and ... who am I kidding?
I have late Normans, WWI aircraft and chuff-chuff trains on my painting table at the moment.
And I'm thinking about the Battle of Wake Island, and Robert Taylor in "Bataan".
And why it is that Anne Hathaway still hasn't rung my doorbell.
Quote from: fsn on 01 May 2016, 12:09:00 PM
And why it is that Anne Hathaway still hasn't rung my doorbell.
Maybe she is still looking for your bell pull
I have one outstanding painting project ... 6mm Sumerians and 1:2400 Armada period ... I have two outstanding painting projects ... 6mm Sumerians, 1:2400 Armada period and 10mm WW2 Germans ... I have THREE outstanding painting projects ... 6mm Sumerians, 1:2400 Armada period, 10mm WW2 Germans and 28mm scale Gladiators ... My FOUR ... no ... AMONGST my outstanding painting projects .... Amongst my outstanding painting projects ... are such projects as 6mm Sumerians and 1:2400 Armada period ... I'll come in again.
It's just a hobby ... I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition! :)
I am waiting for several things to go ahead and finish the paint job without my involvement. It could happen. Some sudden local decrease in entropy - a bored troop of Brownies (either type would work) passing through - perhaps a spell of animation can be cast so they will paint each other. I have even thought of putting several small pans of paint and a 1870 French Chassuer battalion in a sealed box and shaking them up* - There is a chance (slim but a chance) if I open the box they will be correctly painted. Or I might never open the box and just ASSUME they are done. This may only work at the quantum level but if I never open the box...
*this would involve my agency however - something I wish to avoid!
Embrace fickleness. I currently have AWI, WSS, modern and Pacific ww2 in various states of completion in an area about a foot square.
Quote from: fsn on 01 May 2016, 12:09:00 PM
And why it is that Anne Hathaway still hasn't rung my doorbell.
My Nephews wife (Niece?) was in the film "Les Miserables" while they were filming she was suffering from really bad morning sickness and Anne Hathaway insisted on looking after her , making sure she was ok and getting her bottles of water.
So she is very nice.
But sorry Nobby, if I can get her to ring anyone's "doorbell" it will be mine ;)
Well, currently I have 2mm terrain, 10mm SYW Prussians, 6mm ACW Union cavalry and 28mm ECW cavalry sat on my painting desk.
Quote from: Ithoriel on 01 May 2016, 02:37:40 PM
I have one outstanding painting project ... 6mm Sumerians and 1:2400 Armada period ... I have two outstanding painting projects ... 6mm Sumerians, 1:2400 Armada period and 10mm WW2 Germans ... I have THREE outstanding painting projects ... 6mm Sumerians, 1:2400 Armada period, 10mm WW2 Germans and 28mm scale Gladiators ... My FOUR ... no ... AMONGST my outstanding painting projects .... Amongst my outstanding painting projects ... are such projects as 6mm Sumerians and 1:2400 Armada period ... I'll come in again.
It's just a hobby ... I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition! :)
We were all expecting that....